Monday, 4 July 2011

I have been after amber and red recycled glass for some time. Through a circuitous route, I found a Grand Marnier recycled glass vase on Etsy and suddenly realised I had an old bottle at the back of our drinks cabinet. It has been there forever, it must've moved at least twice with us ... DH and I were trying to remember why we bought it, I think it was for a chocolate and orange cheesecake that I only made twice. Anyway, what a bonus!

Just one problem, there's a lot of Grand Marnier left in it and so I have to use that up before I can get my hot little mitts on the glass. I could decant it but after recent adventures in that department, I'm a little shy of doing it again. One morning, I was decanting some Bombay Sapphire gin, some of it got spilled onto my arm and then suddenlhy the window cleaner wanting paying (at 9.30am!) ... he gave me a funny look and I just couldn't be bothered to explain why I smelled of alcohol so early in the day!

Another time, some time ago, I must've decanted some into a Perrier Water bottle. I did write in red on the label "GIN" in capital letters and put the bottle back in the drinks cabinet. I totally forgot about it and got on with my beads!

Sometime later on, DH saw it in the drinks cabinet (ignored my fading scrawl on the Perrier label) and decided that mineral water isn't a drink .... so he put it in the wine rack in the dining room with the mineral water and unsuspecting me poured some into a glass (noting it was a bit flat) and then took a big swig ... yeurggh! As anyone that knows me will realise, I do quite like a gin and tonic (especially Bombay Sapphire) but not neat! We're more wine and beer drinkers in our household, it takes ages to get through a bottle of spirits so I now need to go find some dessert recipes (or summer cocktails) that use Grand Marnier in large quantities or perhaps have a party with a Grand Marnier based punch.

Friday, 1 July 2011

I had the weirdest dream last night. I dreamed DH and I were in London (don't know what for). DH was walking ahead of me somewhere around the West End but we got separated. For some reason I had his Blackberry phone and his wallet in my bag (the same one made by Sarah-Jane who sells these on the Art & Craft Market in Cambridge on Saturdays and shown in this pic).

So I had no way of contacting him. I stood where I was for a while in the hope he would backtrack but DH did not appear. Then his Blackberry started beeping in my bag, I got it out but couldn't make it work (very frustrating!) I could hear his voice saying "Tut, all she's doing is saying 'Hello' but she can't hear me" ... but I could!! "I can hear you, where are you", I say. "No luck, I can't get through to her, thanks for lending me your phone". He rung off.

I decided that as he had no wallet and no phone, he had no way of identifying himself so I looked for a branch of our bank, I went in and explained; they were very helpful and said they would give him some money if a man identifying himself as DH turned up.

As I wandered aimlessly around London not really knowing what to do, I came across a library and had the brilliant idea of contacting him through Facebook using the public access computers as he would be sure to think of this himself. So I went on Sarah-Jane's page (she of the bag) and left a message on there saying if DH saw it that I would meet him at the entrance to Kings Cross tube station. Then there was the dawning realisation that he wouldn't see it because you have to be a friend of Sarah-Jane's to see her Wall and since he no longer has an account, he wouldn't see it ... I woke up in a cold sweat and DH's Blackberry was beeping away in the Study where he'd left it the night before, forgetting to turn it off.

Sarah-Jane misses DH's wit and charm on Facebook more than I do and nags him every Saturday when we see her to re-open his account. If the fact that I am now having bad dreams about Facebook isn't enough to persuade him to come back, I don't know what will!

On-line me in a nutshell

I design and make jewellery using silver and lampwork beads as well as gemstones and swarovski crystals. I specialise in recycling glass bottles into beads and then into jewellery. I sell my work on my website, my My Etsy shop and until recently every Saturday for 9 years on the All Saints Art & Craft market, Cambridge. I sell my lampwork beads on their own separate Etsy shop.